I can only think of one
by PLLHalebSpoby
Summary: Second in my Spoby two-shot series set in season two. Spencer is ecstatic for Toby when he gets his dream job, but the elation is quickly short by a snag on his first day on the job. Toby is horrified when Spencer divulges her suspicion that Ian might be alive.
1. Chapter 1

Sitting alone in the school courtyard, catching up on last minute homework, Spencer tried to ignore the lingering stares that were passed her way by judgmental students and faculty.

Ian still hadn't been found, not to her surprise, and the new police theory floating around town, was that she and the girls knew he had left, and were covering it up.

The theories were always ridiculous, and now that the police had no viable leads, they had descended into downright ludicrous, as they tried to find any way to cover up their own mistakes.

It didn't seem to matter how ridiculous it could be, the townspeople all seemed to go along with what the cops thought, and as a result, Spencer and the girls were about as welcome in the town as a thumb sore.

Glancing up from her geometry homework right before the bell was scheduled to ring for the next class, she saw Toby leaning against one of the pillars, watching her.

Smiling, she immediately got up from her seat, forgetting all about her homework as she went to meet him.

Last he had told her, he was dropping out of school to pursue a GED in favor of starting his own carpentry business.

Maybe he had changed his mind.

It would be nice to have him as a buffer to all the negativity that surrounded her on a daily basis at the school.

"You're here," she said, stating the obvious as she came to a standstill in front of him.

"I had to get some papers from the office."

"You're coming back to school?"

"I haven't changed my mind. This is about getting a GED on my own."

Even though she was thrilled for him and the opportunities he was being presented with, it was still disappointing that she wouldn't have his company during school hours.

"Look, I'm the one who looks guilty. Not you. You cane come back if you want to."

"The thing is," he said, "I _don't _want to. You're the one looking foreword to class reunions, not me. Besides," he said, allowing a grin to grace his beautiful features. "I got a job."

Turning around, he modeled his new work shirt for her. It was his first real job, and one that he was thrilled to have.

It would pay the bills, and it would get him closer and closer to moving out of his parent's house for good.

"They needed someone full time," he explained, catching the stunned look on her face. "And I'll be learning from the best, and Sweeney put up most of the houses in this town."

"How are your parents about this?" she asked.

After all, they hadn't exactly made things easy for them, and Spencer couldn't help but feel that there was a catch somewhere.

"My family's the reason why I'm doing it," he said, the smile fading from his face. "The sooner I've got some money, the sooner I'm out of there. For good."

"Out of Rosewood?"

The town hadn't exactly been welcoming to him in recent years, and she couldn't help but see why he would want to leave it, if that was what he had in mind.

"Well, that depends," he said.

"On what?"

"Different things."

"Name three."

"I can only think of one right now."

* * *

Immediately after school, Spencer made a detour to Toby's place of work. Spotting him outside by his boss, she watched as he accepted a paycheck from the man, and a quick handshake, a disappointed look on his face.

"Toby?" she asked, uncertainly when he approached her car.

"Mr. Sweeney let me go."

The outrage of that was so fresh in her mind that she opened her mouth, no doubt to say something incredibly witty and smart, but only shock came out instead.

"It was your first day."

No one ever got fired at their first day, except for the people that really didn't want to be there in the first place.

That definitely was _not _the case with Toby.

"The owner of the house saw me on the crew, and told Mr. Sweeney that they would cancel the job if he didn't get rid of me."

_"Why?"_

"They got a daughter. They don't want me in the house, so Mr. Sweeney paid me off for the week."

It was outrageous that, after all this time, people would still look the other way when they saw him come.

It was the same thing with other small towns, she was sure, but Rosewood seemed to take the cake with their judgmental attitudes, and their unforgivable attitudes.

"He _cannot _do that-"

"Forget it, Spencer," he said. "It's just how this town works."

He was right about that, but it didn't mean it had to be okay. Sighing in defeat, she looked at him "Get in."

"Tell you what, let's talk later."


	2. Chapter 2

Toby supposed he shouldn't have been surprised. Most people in the town of Rosewood, looked the other way when they saw him, memories of the past still too fresh in their minds to even think about offering him a solid job.

He thought it would work.

Foolishly.

When prominent carpenter businessman, Mr. Sweeney had offered him a job working under him in his carpentry business, he finally thought that he had a chance to make a name for himself, to finally accumulate enough money to leave his parents house.

He should have known that something would happen.

Because something _always _does.

This time it was the daughter.

The homeowner saw him on the crew, threatened Mr. Sweeney that he would cancel the job if he didn't get rid of him.

Of course, for fear of losing his paycheck, Mr. Sweeney had fired him, offered to pay him off for the rest of the week that he would miss, and that was that.

Nothing more than a sympathetic handshake and a smile.

It was how the town worked. It always had worked like that, and he was an idiot for thinking anything would be different.

He couldn't face going home.

Too much tension and stress there, besides he didn't know he was supposed to face his parents, knowing how close he had been to getting out.

Spencer proved to be the magical remedy he needed to let go of the hurt that he felt in that moment.

They ended up back in their spot on the town limits. She had taken him there right after his anklet had been removed, and now the town limits was their source of destination after his firing.

Of course, she had other things on her mind. Namely, to Toby's horror, Ian Thomas possibly being alive and perfectly well.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he demanded, feeling a little bit hurt, and more than a little stunned, as they came to stand next to each other.

"I'm telling you now."

"You should have told me the minute you found out he was texting her."

"Why? What could you have done?"

"I'd have done something."


End file.
